The Only Boy for Me
by guillotineghosties
Summary: Naoto's Christmas event, featuring a female protagonist.


**A/N: Naoto is identified as male in their social link with the fem protagonist, which is radically different as they does not feel pressured to become more feminine due to their affections for her. If you do not like this concept, don't proceed further, please. It's not my intention to start a massive debate.**

-x-x-x-x-

The morning before Christmas, and the protagonist awoke at two in the afternoon. Christmas vacation never lasted long, and so the opportunity to laze about was one best indulged in. Especially when she'd kept herself tired over the past week, fighting shadows and instructing her teammates.  
Didn't foreign students get an entire two weeks off from school?

Not fair.

She might have slept later, if not for her phone beeping from the nightstand and flashing a green light.

A message?

The investigation team had agreed to take off a few days from investigating inside of the TV, due to the holiday, so why would anyone be texting her?

She flipped open her phone with half lidded eyes to see a message from none other than Naoto.

"I'D LIKE TO SPEND TODAY WITH U IF UR UP FOR IT? PLZ RESPOND ASAP."

The protagonist rubbed her eyes and replied back, accepting the offer with a few presses of the keypad.

Her relationship with Naoto had grown more intimate over the past few months. After Naoto had accepted his shadow, there was still a certain chip on his shoulder. While he'd accepted that, biologically, he held female anatomy, he wasn't sure what that meant about his identity as a male. He'd been worried that the "right" thing to do was to live as a girl now that he'd come to terms with his body, but the protagonist encouraged him to follow his heart.  
Could Naoto really just flip a switch and become feminine?  
Or would that be a betrayal of the identity that he'd chosen?  
Did it matter why he'd initially went with living as a male?  
Should he change his ideal of a detective simply because of his physical attributes?  
What made him more comfortable now?  
Those were all questions that Naoto was faced with, and the protagonist had supported his pondering and offered a piece of genuine advice—"be who you want to be".  
Her response back then seemed to light something in his soul, giving flame to a candle in the darkness.

"That's right," Naoto had said. "I may never become a man physically, but it isn't the body that matters. This is who I have shaped myself into, and I'm proud of who I am. I'm…the detective prince. Thank you for helping me realize that."

The conversation had taken place during the last time that they'd spoken, on a date in the park. They'd been going on a lot of those lately, with Naoto holding a sense of sheepish modesty at hearing girls whispering around them that the protagonist had "snagged" such a "cute boy".

She was happy to spend the holiday with Naoto, who had likely never celebrated Christmas with anyone before. Not that he would admit it—something like that would be too embarrassing. The protagonist sometimes wondered how lonely Naoto must have been before. Before, dating a girl before would have carried the risk of them finding out his secret should things have escalated, and pursuing a boy would have raised too many questions.

That didn't matter now, though, because Naoto wasn't alone anymore.

When Naoto arrived in the protagonist's room, he smiled at being here again under more intimate circumstances.

"I see that your room hasn't changed. You're consistent." Naoto hesitated a moment. "Thank you, for spending Christmas with me. I'm sure that there were other boys who wanted to have you today."

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PLAYER CHOICE

You're cuter than them.  
[You're the only man for me.]  
I'm more comfortable with you.  
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"I-I see…" Naoto appeared flustered, and the two of them took a seat across from each other at the center table. "I'm glad that you accept me as a man. Though, I'm not an adult yet-still a boy with a lot of growing to do." He visibly blushed and adjusted his hat nervously. "It makes me happy to hear you say things like that."

_The protagonist recalled that she had something to give to him._

Pulling out a shoebox sized package with green and blue wrapping paper from under her bed, she presented it to her boyfriend, who graciously accepted it. "For me? Thank you." He looked happy to be receiving a gift, although he hadn't been expecting it. "I suppose I should open it now?"

The protagonist had made the gift during a day that she'd been helping Kanji run the textile shop in his mother's leave. She'd asked if he'd instruct her some on sewing and teach her a few tricks of the art, seeing as how enthusiastic he was about his hobby, and so they'd made some dolls together. It took three or four tries and Kanji repeating some of the demonstrations of how to hold the needle and glide it through the fabric, but she'd created a handcrafted doll that resembled Naoto. There'd been no question as to which member of the team she'd use for inspiration.  
Kanji had certainly liked it, telling her, "that's so cute! Are you going to give it to him? I'm sure Naoto-kun would love it!"

Naoto was pleased when he'd delicately sliced the wrapping paper with a letter opener that he carried in his pocket. Lifting the lid, he smiled at the resemblance. "This is really thoughtful. I'm going to treasure this!" He was surprised to see that the felt hat on the doll was removable, and admired the details for a few moments, from the way the miniature coat's buttons actually unlatched, to how there was a tiny, wooden revolver in the plastic holster.

"I actually brought something for you, too. I didn't wrap it, though; sorry…"

Naoto wasn't used to gift giving, and had forgotten that it was more tradition to decorate them with shiny, patterned paper. It seemed almost unneeded to him, considering that the paper was to be shredded off and discarded.

He reach into his coat pocket and withdrew a small but bulky wristwatch, then shyly handed it over to the protagonist. "It's part of a matching set, actually. I have the other one; I made some modifications to them. We'll be able to see when we're around each other on the sonar screen, even though it's just a toy and the range of the function isn't very far…"

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PLAYER CHOICE

[Then let's stay close!]  
That's…creepy.  
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Naoto nervously pulled his hat over his eyes for a moment and looked away to hide how red his cheeks were. "Yes, let's..."

He collected himself and looked back to her, calmly smiling at her with affectionate eyes. "I want to be close to you, always. You make me so happy. I'm glad that I have this chance with you—to make you happy. When I'm with you, I feel like nothing holds me back. I can truly be myself, because you like me as I am."

The protagonist worked the watch around her wrist and latched it, much to Naoto's pleasure.

"If you're agreeable to it, actually," he said the words as if they'd slipped from his lips without fully thinking them through. But he continued. "I would like to stay the night with you, and hold you for a while. To show you how much you mean to me the best that I can."

Naoto's intent was sincere, as was the protagonist's shy nod accepting her offer.

Naoto got up and moved to sit down next to her, delicately grasping her hand and lacing their fingers together. He was clearly nervous, worried about not being able to please her due to his own limitations, but the way she kissed his cheek so lovingly erased all doubt.

_Naoto spent the night with the protagonist…_

_Christmas continues…_

-x-x-x-x-

**A/N: For those curious, the protagonist has other options to choose from during the doll sewing event with Kanji! It's actually a part of his social link with her, which I'll write out in full another time.**


End file.
